news


Dutch photographers pull down the shutters


About 500 freelance photojournalists in the Netherlands staged a one-day strike in January, with more than 250 travelling from across the country to demonstrate in front of the ANP Dutch press agency’s headquarters in The Hague. The action, by Dutch journalists’ union NVJ, was staged to press for better pay rates for photographers. In addition, a full page advert carrying the photographers’ signatures appeared in two national daily newspapers. NVJ freelance


photojournalist organiser Rosa García López told the demonstration that the action showed that Dutch photojournalists could organise on a national level. She said: “You came from north and south,


from small villages and from large cities, alone and in groups. More would have liked to join us but they don’t dare to – they have told me themselves. Still, today 500 photojournalists will not be offering photographs to the media and picture libraries.


“With current rates of pay, photojournalism


will not survive – the rates must not be allowed to fall. We call upon the ANP and others to invest now in the future of photojournalism.” A series of actions targeting Dutch media


organisations Persgroep, Sanoma and TMG is under way. After the action, talks are due to take place with the management of both ANP and Persgroep. Freelance rates in the


FNV


Netherlands have fallen from €80 a photo in 2014 to an average of €42 today, with some as low as €15 or €20.


The NVJ’s campaign has three demands: a


14 per cent increase in rates; respect for creators’ rights and the equalisation of online and print tariffs. The NVJ has said that some media companies offer €15-€20 for an online photo as opposed to €42-€50 for print. Dutch photojournalists fear that, unless fees


are increased, their profession will become just a ‘glorified hobby’ within ten years.


News in focus, page 8


The NUJ’s Dublin Broadcasting Branch has pledged to support any member who chooses to exercise a conscientious objection to being involved in covering this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. The event is due to take place in May in Israel.


Eurovision conscientious objectors backed At a meeting in January,


branch members condemned Israel’s continued attacks on journalists and on freedom of expression. It noted that, since April,


its forces have shot and killed two journalists reporting from Gaza’s border


and injured at least 20 more with live rounds. The union branch


expressed its support for the stance taken by Irish broadcaster RTE, which has said it would not bring any ‘sanction’ against any employee who declined to travel to Israel to cover the


“ Pay rise agreed at ITV but talks continue


NUJ members at ITV have accepted a pay offer of 2.5 per cent and an increase in the redundancy payment cap from £45,000 to £50,000. The offer was accepted by a large majority of members in a consultative ballot. Members of Bectu and Unite also agreed to accept it. However, negotiations are still to conclude on unpopular changes to working


arrangements for bank holidays. The broadcaster wants to move to full news programmes on bank holidays rather than shortened bulletins. At ITN, changes planned to the annual leave system, which involved moving


from a calculation of days to one of hours, were withdrawn by the company after objections from the unions.


With current rates of pay, photojournalism will not survive. We call upon the ANP and others to invest now in the future of photojournalism


Rosa García López NVJ


inbrief...


LEWIS AND FACEBOOK SETTLE OVER SCAMS NUJ member Martin Lewis, founder of Money Saving Expert, has dropped a defamation lawsuit against Facebook over scam adverts, which he said used his name to con people out of money. Facebook said it would donate £3 million to charity, create a reporting button for scam ads in the UK and set up a team to handle issues reported.


MYRIE HONOURED BY HIS OLD UNIVERSITY BBC News presenter Clive Myrie is to receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater. Myrie studied law at the University of Sussex in the 1980s and went on to work at the BBC shortly after graduating.


HAYMARKET PROFITS FALL BY NEARLY HALF Haymarket Group, a specialist publisher, has posted a fall in pre-tax profits to £8 million for the year to the end of June 2018, down from £15.9 million in 2017. Turnover at the group fell to £163.5 million, down nearly £10 million year-on-year.


contest on conscientious grounds. The branch’s resolution


follows a pledge last April by the NUJ as a whole to support any journalist who refused on ethical grounds to cover the Giro d’Italia cycling competition, which started in Israel.


ECONOMIST STARTS DEEP DAILY PODCAST The Economist has launched a daily podcast to deliver current affairs to both morning commuters in the US and late-morning listeners in the UK. The Intelligence promises an in-depth look at big news stories that steers away from the ‘hamster wheel’ of daily news, according to head of Economist Radio Anne McElvoy.


BUCKS FREE PRESS REACHES OUT Newsquest has started a new edition of the Bucks Free Press for Buckinghamshire towns and villages abandoned by Reach after it closed a title covering the area. The new edition will cover Amersham, Chesham and Little Chalfont. Reach closed the Buckinghamshire Examiner & Advertiser in January.


theJournalist | 07


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28